Plodcast host Fergus joins historian and battlefield tour guide Julian Humphrys at the site of a Civil War battlefield in the hills just north of Bath. It's a dark winter's day and fog descends creating an atmosphere of 'gunsmoke' and eerie sounds. Listen on to hear about how the dramatic battle unfolded...

Find out more about the Battlefields Trust of which Julian is a trustee at https://www.battlefieldstrust.com. And Julian's own website is full of great information:  http://www.julianhumphrys.com/

Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected].

If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team.

Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com

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After weeks of rain, it's a clear, calm rosy sunrise. A pair of robins in neighbouring gardens welcome the early sun with wistful phrases as if chatting over the fence. It's a duet to warm the soul in the depths of winter.

BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be.

Recorded by Fergus Collins. Image by Getty

Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected]

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Plodcast host Fergus joins broadcaster, writer and, best of all, brilliant birder Stephen Moss on a wild stretch of the Somerset coast to look for winter birds on the marshes and mudflats. Stephen also talks about his time as a BBC Natural History Unit producer and his lifelong love of wildlife. But what did they discover today?

Stephen's new book The Owl: A Biography is published by Square Peg. Link https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/455675/the-owl-by-moss-stephen/9781529908268

Image by Getty

Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected]. If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com

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This week we're on the Ceredigion coast - a lonely cove of shingle with the Irish sea rolling with a soothing rhythm. No one else is around, no one that is apart from a seal bobbing just offshore.

BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be.

Recorded by Catrin Collins.

Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected]

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What is it like to swim outdoors under a full moon in the depths of winter? Maria Hodson braves the inky waters of Clevedon Marine Pool with the Bristol Blue Tits to learn about what cold water swimming can do for you.

Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected].

If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team.

Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Where the Somerset Levels meet the sea, broad, marshy pastures and forgotten fields host gulls, rooks, crows and egrets, foraging for food stirred up cattle and horses wintering here. But the birds are ever watchful – there are hunters here, peregrines roving the overcast sky ready to strike.

BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be.

Recorded by Fergus Collins.

Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join Plodcast host Fergus and regulars Kevin Parr and Annabel Ross as well as editor Dan Kramer-Arden for a lighthearted look back at a year of recording nature – and take part in Kev's great Christmas quiz! Plus plenty more natural silliness to enjoy.

Wild wishes from the Plodcast team and have a very merry Christmas.

Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected].

If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team.

Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're in a wintry valley following a boisterous stream high into the Welsh hills. After recent rain, the water boils and churns and the river's song is wild and free. Fighting against the current are huge salmon, leaping lightning fast through the rough waters to reach the calmer spawning grounds.

BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be.

Recorded by Fergus Collins

Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Come with us deep into the Welsh hills, to Gilfach Farm, a magical Radnorshire Wildlife Trust reserve in Powys. Here, in the tumbling River Marteg, salmon still leap waterfalls and rapids to reach their spawning grounds. Will plodcast host Fergus spot this incredible natural spectacle. With huge thanks to naturalist Megan Shersby and Radnorshire Wildlife Trust's head of conservation Sylvia Cojocaru for the wildlife insights and expertise.

Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: [email protected].

If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team.

Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s a chilly evening and you are gathered with a crowd of others next to a large bonfire. The warmth it provides is a welcome break from the chilly air and the glow lights up the faces of joy around the neighbourhood park.

BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be.

Recorded by Jack Bateman, presented by Hannah Tribe. Image by Getty

Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices